Every Christian would be wise to be well informed as to the beliefs of the person who is leading and teaching their congregation about God. What does your pastor believe? Does he believe the Bible? Is she even a Christian? Here are questions to ask your pastor so you will know if they are a Christ-follower or a wolf in sheep’s clothing: 1 - Will everyone go to heaven? 2 – Do you approve of abortions? 3 – Is homosexual sex a sin? 4 – Are some Biblical stories that are normally considered historic actually myths? 5 – Was Jesus born of a virgin? 6 – Will some people go to hell when they die? 7 – Did Jesus actually say the words Scripture records Him to have said? 8 – Did the miracles of Christ, recorded in the Bible, truly happen? 9 – What is your definition of the “gospel?” 10 – Do you refrain from calling God “Father,” using “He” or other male pronouns? 11 – How many who were once “lost” have thanked you for leading them to Christ? 12 - What must one do to be saved? (a question asked of Paul in Acts 16:30) If you are not sure what the correct answers should be to these questions…read the Bible.

My ELCA pastors only care about their social justice agenda and then wonder why the church is going broke. As for me, I'm leaving for a Southern Baptist church with a pastor who could ace all those questions.

And your new denomination, unlike the ELCA, has no ambivalence about the authority of the Bible.

http://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2015/06/16/southern-baptists-supreme-court-is-not-final-authority-on-gay-marriage-n2013421/page/full -- Southern Baptists: Supreme Court Is Not Final Authority on Gay Marriage

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention has a message regarding the looming Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage: We will not obey.

“The Supreme Court of the United States is not the final authority nor is the culture itself,” declared Ronnie Floyd, the elected leader of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. “The Bible is God’s final authority about marriage and on this book we stand.”

“While some evangelicals may be bowing down to the deception of the inclusiveness of same-sex marriage, we will not bow down nor will we be silent,” Floyd declared in a fiery speech on Tuesday. “We do not need to redefine what God Himself has defined already.”

And from there Dr. Floyd went where few prominent pastors have gone before – a Supreme Court showdown.

“America – we stand believing that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime,” he said in a thundering speech. “We have believed this and do believe this and will continue to believe this as a convention of churches. We stand for biblical and traditional marriage.”

Dr. Floyd reminded the gathering of something German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

“This is a Bonhoeffer moment for every pastor in the United States,” Floyd said, warning ministers that the time has come for every minister to stand strongly and clearly – regardless of the cost.

“That’s what Bonhoeffer did,” he said. . . .

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David

6/16/2015 09:22:57 am

Number six is troublesome. No one goes to hell when they die. They await the coming of Christ when they are judged.

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Mike

7/2/2015 02:36:43 pm

When the unsaved die they go to place called torments. This is the place the rich man went to. Lazarus went to Paradise and was with Abraham. Jesus emptied Paradise and took those in Paradise with him to Heaven. The compartment called torments is still active and receiving those who do not belong to the Lord. At the end of the 1000 year millennium reign of Jesus those in torments will be resurrected to stand before the Lord at the Great White judgement at which time they will have no defense of not accepting the Lord and his Gospel of Salvation. They will then be cast into the Lake of Fire where they will be forever.

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SwampFox

6/16/2015 01:19:52 pm

I quit the ELCA 5 years ago over their PC liturgy, removal of classic hymns like Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus and Onward Christian Soldiers from the hymnal, and church practices not supported by scripture. I'm very happy in the LCMS. I could never be anything but a Lutheran, as my Lutheran roots go back to Germany and for multiple centuries.

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Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. ​1 Thessalonians 5:21

Dan Skogen

Former ELCA seminary student and former ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word.

If you have been helped and blessed by Exposing the ELCA's ministry, please help us continue to proclaim the truth of God's Word to ELCA members who need to hear it.